8.8 IRS Swap - Mark VIII Inner Tri Pod CV Boot Located

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Just in case anyone else needs to locate replacement inner CV boots when using the Aluminum Lincoln Mark 8 differential and inner CV joint, the Driveshaft Shaft shop has them in stock (http://www.driveshaftshop.com)

Their part# is BT-435 and the price is $30 each including grease and clamps. FWIW, the part# on the actual boot is BT-429. I suspect this is because the tri-pod insert is bonded into a "regular" boot to create the 435 boot out of a 429.

It was quite an adventure to locate this boot. The Ford boot, p/n F2SZ4K326C (also F2SZ4L537C) is long ago discontinued. Raybestos 816-8033 is also discontinued; ignore any on-line vendor listing it as "in stock" - nobody has it.

Knowing what I know now, the better alternative is to use the Super Coupe stubs which apparently have an insert built into the cup so that it uses a conventional round boot. But the Mark 8 inner joints came along for free with my differential, so I decided to stick with those.

One thing I considered doing was making my own tri-pod insert from a salvaged boot. If you go that route you'd need a boot with the following approximate dimensions:
Big end diameter: 105mm
Axle end diameter: 30mm
Height: 140mm

[cliffxr]

Good info to have Brad, thanks! I've saved the part number on my list of "non-Merkur" parts for my Merkur.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Good info to have Brad, thanks! I've saved the part number on my list of "non-Merkur" parts for my Merkur.

No problem Cliff. Just make sure you also reference the vendor, as I don't think you'll find anyone else selling it with that part#. Here's a thread where someone else went through the same process and also ended up at The Driveshaft Shop as the only source for this boot....
http://www.ffcars.com/forums/45-ford-mo ... where.html